Do drop in for a $238 sandwich

EYEBROWS were raised recently when the Michelin-starred team at Cliveden House, Berkshire, launched the world's most expensive sandwich.

Historic ... built in 1666 for the Duke of Buckingham, Cliveden House boasts a scandalous and colourful past.

EYEBROWS were raised recently when the Michelin-starred team at Cliveden House, Berkshire, launched the world's most expensive sandwich.

Its hefty £100 ($238) price tag was justified by ingredients such as iberico ham, which had been air-cured for 30 months, from the prized black-footed pig.

This triple-decker snack also contains shavings of white truffles that cost $5960 a kilogram and poulet de Bresse chicken, a favourite with France's Henry IV.

This isn't the first time this stately home-turned-hotel has been associated with excess.

Cliveden, whose name derives from its position on chalky cliffs overlooking the Thames, has a scandalous and colourful past.

The Duke of Buckingham, a notorious rake, literary figure and politician, first built a house here in 1666.

He wanted a hunting lodge where he could entertain friends and his mistress, the Countess of Shrewsbury, whose husband he killed in a duel.

In later years, Cliveden became home to three dukes, an earl, the Astor family and Frederick, Prince of Wales.

The 18th-century royal died shortly after being hit by a cricket ball in the grounds of Cliveden. Modern-day visitors can play the less dangerous sport of croquet on the manicured lawns.

Cliveden's owners have always been enthusiastic hosts – guests have included Winston Churchill, Charlie Chaplin and T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia).

But there is one party guest who seems most synonymous with Cliveden: John Profumo.

It was on a warm July evening in 1961 that the Secretary of State for War, a guest of the Astors, first saw callgirl Christine Keeler swimming topless in Cliveden's outdoor pool.

Their subsequent affair, and her friendship with a naval attache and KGB spy at the Russian Embassy in London, became Britain's first modern sex scandal and made newspaper headlines around the world.

It led to the resignations of Profumo and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, whose ill health worsened in the furore.

The Astors, who felt the Profumo affair had tainted their home, moved out in 1966, donating the Italianate-style mansion, its contents and the 152ha of land to the National Trust.

The National Trust connection means the house has retained its spirit.

In the Great Hall, visitors are encouraged to relax in the antique seats – one set of six chairs is worth $85,800.

This wood-panelled room also boasts a medieval French stone fireplace, 16th-century suits of armour and an original Singer Sargent portrait of Nancy Astor.

There is also a pastel drawing of Keeler in Cliveden's Michelin-starred Waldo's restaurant, by Stephen Ward, a society osteopath and friend of Keeler, who was charged with living off immoral earnings and committed suicide on the last day of his trial.

In spite of its grandeur, Cliveden has a homely feel – each of the 38 rooms is named after a former resident or guest (the Rudyard Kipling room contains copies of his books).

The staff-to-guest ratio is four to one, while the dining is divine – Cliveden was recently named Best Hotel for Food in a prestigious survey.

In the corridors there are displays of marble busts, photos of famous visitors and the stick that was used to push the posterior of the Duchess of Sutherland, a former resident, uphill.

The spectacular French dining room originates in Paris. William Waldolf Astor had it transported from a chateau belonging to Louis XV's mistress, Madame de Pompadour.

The rococo boiseries (gilded paneling) are equal to the finest surviving in France.

William Astor seemed to have a penchant for heavy souvenirs – the garden features a limestone balustrade from Rome's Villa Borghese and Roman sarcophagi from about 200AD.

The grounds include riverside walks, a water garden and sculptured flowerbeds in the formal parterre.

The first performance of Rule, Britannia was held in Cliveden's grass amphitheatre.

Hidden in the woods is the mock-Tudor Spring Cottage, which can be rented, with its own butler. Overnight guests at Spring Cottage have included Keeler, and Britney Spears. Before their time, Queen Victoria used to have tea here – it's a quick sail down the Thames from Windsor Castle.

Modern visitors can experience champagne cruises on one of Cliveden's vintage flotilla.

Of course, you could always take a dip in that swimming pool, which is now heated and bordered by two Canadian hot tubs. There is also an indoor pool and spa that offers indulgent treatments unique to Cliveden.

Whatever you do, the memories will stay with you – guestbooks are filled with sketches and happy, heartfelt messages.

When Macmillan was told that Cliveden was to become a hotel, he remarked: "But my dear boy, it always has been."

Long may it continue.

Sunday Mail (QLD)